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…Was nothing short of amazing.
Because of you: Women will have access to contraception in new health insurance plans — without co-pays — and attempts to defund family planning were stopped. Because of you: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and other key social safety net programs were spared automatic cuts under the federal debt ceiling deal. Because of you: We helped secure nationwide protections against retaliation in the workplace, rights for pregnant and parenting students in Michigan, and educational equity for female student athletes in Oldham County, Kentucky. Throughout the year, we’ve been honored to work with you to expand the possibilities for women and their families so that, as President Obama said at the Center’s Annual Awards Dinner just weeks ago, our children can “go out into a world where there is no limit to how big they can dream and how high they can reach.” But we have little time to rest on our laurels — 2012 won’t be easy. Will you help? The coming year will see the Affordable Care Act go before the Supreme Court, where we’ll be fighting to protect the law and ensure that being a woman cannot be a preexisting condition again. With millions of Americans living in poverty and facing long-term unemployment, powerful forces in Congress will STILL lobby for tax cuts to the wealthy at the expense of jobs and programs vital to women and their families. And of course, women STILL earn on average only 77 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts, showing the clear need for the Paycheck Fairness Act. Will you help us? Please consider a very generous contribution to the Center — your gift will be doubled by a match from the Center’s Board of Directors and Leadership 35 Committee. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be bringing you more about what we’ve done together this year and what 2012 is likely to bring. In the meantime, please help us start our 40th year stronger than ever before. Thank you again for all the help you give and all the work you do on behalf of women and families. Sincerely, |
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P.S. Remember, your gift will be matched thanks to the generosity of our Board and Leadership 35 Committee. Please help today! |
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You have to wonder — which part of the landmark health care law do they want to repeal? Is it the part that ends the practice of charging women higher health insurance premiums than men? Or perhaps it’s the part that bans the practice of denying coverage to rape victims because insurers consider rape and domestic violence to be “pre-existing conditions?” This year’s landmark law was an urgent and long-overdue step forward. And we’re not going to let it fall victim to partisan politics. With your help, we can defend our gains — and make new progress — for women and families in 2011. Last year, Congress considered ways to fix our broken health care system, and the Center went to work. We sought to stop insurers from charging women higher premiums than men. We sought to require insurers to provide insurance to 32 million Americans who had none. And we sought to end the trauma of women being denied coverage by insurance companies that consider Cesareans, domestic violence and rape to be “pre-existing conditions.” We researched and documented the discrimination women face. We put women’s health needs front and center through our attention-grabbing “Being a Woman Is Not a Pre-existing Condition” campaign. We provided expert testimony on Capitol Hill documenting the inequities and discrimination that women faced every day as they sought quality health care for themselves and their families. And with the help of so many people like you, we won. The health care law was the culmination of years of work by the Center and its allies — documenting the abuses by insurance companies, organizing policy advocates, activating supporters, and building Congressional support Member by Member. With your help, we will carry on the fight for women and families in America — in the workplace, in the classroom, on the soccer field, and in the doctor’s office. On behalf of women and families everywhere, thank you for your generous help. Sincerely, |
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If the final days of the 111th Congress are any clue, you and I have our work cut out for us in 2011. Earlier this month, 58 Senators voted to bring an important bill, the Paycheck Fairness Act, to the floor of the Senate for a full debate and vote. This measure would help close the continuing and shameful disparity between men’s and women’s wages. But in highly polarized Washington, 58 votes are not enough. Needing 60, this critical reform died without ever receiving a vote on the merits. We have fought too long and too hard for women and families to let injustices like this stand. It’s a sign of the times that our Board has issued this challenge. For more than 38 years, the National Women’s Law Center has led the way for women and families — in the classroom, in the workplace and in society as a whole. Our team of experts, lawyers and advocates is a formidable force for women in America today. The coming year will be a tough one, but frankly we’ve been here before — and prevailed. And with your help, we can prevail again. Here is a glimpse of some of the major challenges that we will take on in 2011, marshalling all of our experience, savvy and skill:
We’re up against what will certainly be one of the most challenging sessions of Congress in recent years, with many more Members hostile to core rights and programs critical to women’s lives. But if we’ve learned one thing in our 38 years, it’s this — that victories are possible even in the toughest of times. Please give generously. For women and families everywhere, you have our deepest thanks. Sincerely,
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